And then there was one. Original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens is now the last surviving member of the ironically christened ‘70s band that should’ve been, yet never was, as massive as its name suggested. His latest project, Those Pretty Wrongs, came together when Stephens was tapped to play ahead of screenings for Big Star’s documentary, Nothing Can Hurt Me, and asked former Freewheelers frontman Luther Russell to accompany him. Last year, the duo hit Ardent Studios and dusted off Stephens’ Big Star kit and the guitars Chris Bell used on #1 Record and his own I Am the Cosmos and recorded Those Pretty Wrongs’ brilliant eponymous debut.
Stephens and Russell channel the departed Stars throughout the album’s 10 tracks, particularly on the bittersweet optimism of “Lucky Guy,” the Petty/Fab jangle of “I’m For Love,” the soulful gait of “Thrown Away” and the pure-pop-for-then-people of “Mystery Trip.” Big Star found the Venn intersection of the Byrds, Brian Wilson, the Beatles and its Memphis roots, and Those Pretty Wrongs have sharpened that kaleidoscopic focus with rose-colored bifocals and beautiful memories of what could’ve been without an ounce of regret.
—Brian Baker
